Yakuza 2 is a game with an identity crisis. It features a complex plot that bears favourable comparison with some hard-boiled Japanese cinema. But it gets so carried away that it nearly forgets it’s a game at all. Pantomime villain aside, the characters are largely likable with distinctive personalities, and the plot’s various twists and revelations keep things barreling along nicely.
If nothing else, Sega’s Japanese crime ‘em up is monstrously ambitious. Part adventure game, part old school scrapper, it’s the breadth of Yakuza 3’s robust minigames that makes it really stand out. Can’t be assed with the main story mode? No problem. Why not play golf, go fishing, take part in UFC-style cage competitions, bowl or go all Dog the Bounty Hunter and capture crooks? Hell, you can even sing karaoke in a Tokyo bar while off your
That Yakuza 4 has been released stateside alone is a miracle. In Japan, it's popular enough to warrant a branded Twitter app. Over here? Not so much. Far from a household name on these shores, the Yakuza series is, to be a tad reductive for those unfamiliar, Japan's version of Grand Theft Auto - but not really. Not quite an open-world sandbox game, though darn close, Yakuza has earned a rabid fan base due to its compelling stories written by crime novelists like Hase Seishu, dovetailed with Virtua Fighter-like brawls. Those are the key components, along with the bustling Japanese cityscapes the games take place in - "Japanese" being the operative word here...
Sega decided to add zombies and more guns to its well-established Yakuza series. See if it was for the better, or just a horrible mistake...
What do amnesia, satanic cults, and a series of ritualistic killings have in common? They're the most interesting things about Pendulo Studios' Yesterday, a point-and-click adventure that fell far short of our expectations...
We’ll begrudgingly admit that we watched with a mixture of abject terror and pure fascination as the “stars” of Jersey Shore catapulted into the hearts, minds and hair products of the public, but not once did we ever watch an episode of the now infamous reality series and think, “I could have delivered that line way better than The Situation.” Well, we won’t admit that we did...
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